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Legion of the Damned
Astartes in battle]] The Legion of the Damned are a mysterious band of Space Marines who often arrive on the battlefield when Imperial forces find themselves most in need of reiforcements. In truth, the Astartes that make up the self-proclaimed Legion of the Damned are remnants of the lost Loyalist Fire Hawks Chapter. They fight as a single unit and often appear mysteriously to aid an Imperial military force at a moment when they are about to be overwhelmed by the foe. The Legion's Space Marines are afflicted by a strange Warp contagion that destroys their sanity; as it progresses their bodies decay physically at the cellular level, but they grow in supernatural strength. Each Astartes of the Legion is rapidly approaching the moment when he will finally succumb to the contagion. Combat can initiate the final stages of the disease, in which the afflicted Space Marine reaches a peak in physical power but also enters a permanently berserk state that ends with his death. Chapter History in battle]] In 963.M41 the Fire Hawks were sent to the Crow's World Sub-sector to put down an incursion into realspace by Dark Eldar pirates. The entire Chapter fleet, including the Chapter's mobile fortress-monastery, the Raptorus Rex, made a successful Warp jump from the Piraeus System 120 light years from Crow's World. The five starships, over eight hundred Battle-Brethren, and two thousand other personnel expected to reach Crow's World within no more than 12 hours. They never arrived. Twenty years later, the Chapter was officially declared lost in the Warp and presumed destroyed. The great Bell of Lost Souls tolled a thousand times, and a Black Candle was lit in the Chapel of Fallen Heroes in the Imperial Palace. In 986.M41 a routine Imperial Navy patrol passed through the Ork-held star system of Jakor-tal. The squadron discovered altogether unexpected scenes of devastation. The limited facilities available to the patrol could uncover no clue to the identity of the attacking forces. The incident was noted and passed into the records of the Adeptus Administratum. A rash of similar incidents within the same and adjoining sectors aroused the interest of the Inquisition but no sign of the intruders was discovered for almost a year. Then, a patrol ship in the Maran Sub-sector narrowly avoided a collision with a spacecraft at the Cift System jump-point. The patrol ship was entering the Cift System as the unidentified craft was leaving. Alerted by the close encounter, the patrol crew scanned the entire jump-area and discovered two long cylindrical objects within the intruder's projected flight-path. These were hauled aboard and proved to be standard coffins used for starship burials in space without identification markings. The coffins were shipped back to Terra and opened by the Adeptus Mechanicus. The coffins themselves were identified as belonging to the Absolute, one of the spacecraft from the vanished Fire Hawk fleet. Inside were the armoured remains of two Space Marines. The unconventional armour colors and unofficial insignia puzzled the investigators, but serial numbers on the armour tallied with the equipment made by or issued to the Fire Hawks. The armoured suits seemed to belong to members of the lost Chapter, and were carefully broken open. The bodies within were human, but further identification proved impossible due to their advanced state of decay. Almost a year later, a besieged Imperial Research Station received unexpected help. The garrison had been attacked by Ork pirates. After three hours of fighting the situation looked hopeless. Then, without warning, the Orks found themselves attacked from the rear. Within half an hour, several hundred Orks had fallen to the mysterious, Power Armoured figures. Then, as suddenly as they had appeared, the unknown warriors vanished. This time they left behind a banner - the gnarled Chapter banner of the Fire Hawks - and inscribed upon it was the High Gothic motto In dedicato imperatum ultra articulo mortis ("For the Emperor beyond the point of death"). As well as the banner there was a flight recorder and sundry other sealed items. These were shipped to Terra. The Fire Hawks' Fate From the data contained in the flight recorder the Administratum was able to determine exactly what had happened to the lost Chapter. Following their Warp-jump the entire fleet had been caught within a Warp Storm of terrific intensity and forced to endure the attacks of powerful Warp entities. Ship after ship of the flett was destroyed. Soon only one craft remained. By a daring Warp-exit maneuver the ship burst out of Warpspace, emerging far in the galactic east, thousands of light years off-course and beyond even the psychic light of the Emperor's Astronomican. Survivors The original Fire Hawks survivors numbered 200 Astartes. All of the Chapter's gene-seed had been lost, all of its Initiates killed, and most of the Chapter's officers were gone. None of the Chapter's normal human serfs had survived at all. To make matters worse, the brethren had been mutated by exposure to the Warp. This change became more obvious over the next few months. Skins began to blacken and blister, flesh began to fester and putrefy. Slowly they began to die. Within days of the transition into normal space it became obvious that the Chapter had been exposed to some form of dangerous Warp mutation or disease. It took many years to navigate a way back into the Imperium, during which time almost half the brethren succumbed to the malady. Those who remained were no longer sane. Pain and despair had driven even their hardened minds beyond the point of rationality. Doomed to agonising deaths, they gradually became obsessed with their fate. Now they only wanted to die. But they were still Space Marines, still loyal to the Emperor and Mankind. They were determined that they would die only for a purpose. So began the unstoppable war of the Legion of the Damned. The surviving Fire Hawks Astartes elected to remove all official insignia from their armour. Instead their armour was painted black, decorated by each Battle-Brother with whatever emblems of death he chose. Most of the Legion's Astartes employed a similar theme - skeletons, bones and skulls. All ranks and company structure was abolished, since most of the Chapter's officers were already dead and the remaining warriors were too few to make up a fully functioning Chapter hierarchy. All of the Legion's Battle-Brothers were to be equal before death - leveled by the certainty of their assured extinction. The warriors decided to expend their lives attacking the Imperium's enemies wherever they could be found. The disease had robbed them of their sanity, but never their loyalty. Notable Campaigns *'The Defence of Certus-Minor (Unknown Date.M41)' - The entirety of the Excoriators' 5th Company was lost in garrisoning the Imperial Cemetery World of Certus-Minor against the predations of the Cholercaust Blood Crusade. Certius-Minor lay directly in the path of the Keeler Comet, an ancient blood-red comet whose strange path embodied the will of the Chaos God Khorne, leading the Cholercaust across the stars in a celebration of slaughter for the Blood God. That was until the comet appeared in the skies of the tiny Cemetary World in the Praga Sub-sector. The 5th Company did request reinforcement from the rest of the Chapter but had little expectation of its arrival in time to make a difference. The 5th Company sent long-range astrotelepathic requests to the regiments of the Imperial Guard's Viper Legion at Hellionii Reticuli, the 2nd Company of the Novamarines Space Marine Chapter stationed at Belis Quora and the Angels Eradicant Chapter at Port Kreel. They even sent a message to the Vanaheim Cordon, in full knowledge of its futility, for the Imperial Fists, Exorcists and Grey Knights Astartes stationed there would not leave the line of defence for fear that the Keeler Comet and the trailing Cholercaust Crusade might resume its progress on towards Terra. The Adeptus Astartes contingents stationed at Vanaheim would never leave the sacred soil of Terra open to attack to help defend a tiny Ecclesiarchy Cemetery World. The Excoriators' Battle Barge Certius attempted to reach the Cemetary World to answer their Battle-Brothers' call and halt the progress of the Cholercaust, but they were delayed by strange Warp currents in the wake of the crimson Keeler Comet. The doomed 5th Company faced their inevitable deaths at the hands of the Forces of Chaos, and in desperation sent a last, prayerful plea to the Emperor of Mankind for assistance of any kind. For a miracle. Beyond all hope, their prayers were answered. The Blood God's butchers soon became the butchered as they were completely wiped out by the timely intervention of the mysterious Astartes who called themselves the Legion of the Damned, though all the Space Marines of the 5th Company valiantly lost their lives in the effort. Chapter Organisation When the Firehawks Chapter made their fateful warp jump to the Crows World sub-sector and were caught in a prodigious warp storm, only one craft managed to escape its fate. They quickly realized that they had brought back a mysterious warp contagion that decayed their bodies and drove them beyond the point of sane rationalisation. Originally numbering only 200 hundred brethren, all gene-seed had been lost, all initiates killed, and most of the senior leadership within the Chapter was gone. All ranks and companies were abolished as most of the Chapter's officers were already dead and the remaining warriors were too few to make up a fully functional Chapter hierarchy. All brothers were to be equal before death - leveled by the certainty of their assured extinction. There have some notable exceptions such as sightings of the mysterious Centurius, a suspected Veteran Sergeant that leads some of his fellow Legionnaires into battle. Although nothing is known of the Legion's higher organisation, there have been witness accounts of a mysterious figure sighted directing the Legion's attacks. It is not known if he is the Master of the Legion or the equivalent of a Space Marine Captain. Harkening back to their former lives as Astartes of the Fire Hawks Chapter, the Legion of the Damned still very much epitomise the use of rapid assault tactics. Their tactical doctrine still tends to err towards the use of shock tactics, close-quarters combat and above all, the brutal application of focused and overwhelming force to obliterate the enemy. Having a reputation for appearing suddenly and disappearing after a battle just equally as mysteriously, the Legion of the Damned units have been observed to only make use of some heavy support, such as Rhino armoured personnel carriers or a venerable Dreadnought. Even the Legion of the Damned's Tactical and Devastator Squads prefer to engage at point-blank range when possible. The Legion of the Damned also make extensive use of Bike Squadrons, taking advantage of their superb speed and agility to launch lightning fast raids. They have also been observed to make use of ancient technology, especially the use of early types of Plasma Weapons dating back to the Horus Heresy era. Though the plasma technology of that time was notoriously unstable and dangerous, this has not dissuaded the Legionnaires from removing them from their formidable arsenal. The devastating power of these plasma weaponry make it too potent to abandon, and so, the Legion of the Damned continue to utilise them. Chapter Combat Doctrine bring the purifying flames of the Emperor to His foes]] The Legion has no formal organization - it fights as a single body of troops. The only tactic possible to such a formation is to steam-roll over the enemy by a steady advance. The Legion is not a part of any Imperial force, and employs an unusual modus operandi. Apart from driving them insane, the Warp contagion heightens their psychic awareness considerably. One result of this is the way in which the Legion selects and attacks targets. These matters are left entirely to the process of divination provided by the mystic Emperor's Tarot. This Tarot is supposedly bound within the psychic will of the Emperor and is used throughout the Imperium as both a pastime and a form of true divination. It is an undeniable fact that the Legion of the Damned's attacks seem to fall in 'the right place at the right time'. Chapter Appearance Chapter Colours The Legion of the Damned paints its Power Armour a flat black. Some Astartes add flames to their shoulder plates or greaves to show their damned status or otherwise add symbols of death to their armour. The Aquila is usually white. Chapter Badge The legion of the Damned's Chapter badge is a white skull. Notable Legionaries *'Attica Centurius (Sergeant)' - From what has been gathered from scattered eyewitness accounts it appears that the Legion of the Damned have abolished all ranks and no longer organise themselves into companies. Most of the Chapter's officers were already dead and the remaining warriors were too few to make up a fully functioning Chapter hierarchy. All brothers were to be equal before death - leveled by the certainty of their assured extinction. There is however, there is one notable exception - the mysterious Centurius whom seems to wield some type of leadership role over the other revenant Astartes. Centurius' armour does not display any rank or insignia save the usual symbols of death, however it is believed that he is a Veteran Sergeant. He is marked out from the other Legionaries by the archaic skull that he carries aloft into battle known as the Animus Malorum ("Souls of the Damned"). This ancient relic takes the form of a skull whose eyes blaze with light when its power is unleashed. There is some speculation as to the identity of the skull, as it bears three long service studs bolted into its forehead. This indicates an Astartes of senior rank, perhaps all that remains of Sergeant Centurius' Company Captain. This powerful artefact has the ability to literally suck the souls from its target and then resurrect a fellow Legion of the Damned member who has fallen in battle, to continue to serve the Emperor beyond the point of death. Related Articles *Fire Hawks Sources *''White Dwarf 99, "Index Astartes: Legion of the Damned" by Rick Priestley *''Codex: Ultramarines (2nd Edition) *''To Cleanse The Stars'' by Andy Chambers and Matt Keefe. (accessed 2007.02.19) *''Index Astartes I – The Cursed Founding'' *''Chapter Approved 2003'' *Games Workshop Online - Founding 21 (accessed 2007.02.19) *''White Dwarf'' 195, "Legion of the Damned: Veteran Sergeant Centurius", by Ian Pickstock *''White Dwarf'' 224 (US) "Legion of the Damned", pp. 18-25 by Jervis Johnson Gallery File:LoD_Battle-Brother.jpg|Legion of the Damned Tactical Marine File:2011LOTD_(9).jpg|Legion of the Damned Battle-Brothers in combat LoD Space Marine.jpg|A Battle-Brother of the Legion of the Damned bringing the Emperor's wrath upon their foes File:LoD_Dreadnaught.jpg|A Legion of the Damned Mark V Dreadnought File:Legion-of-the-damned-full-art.jpg|The Legion of the Damned fighting the horrors of the Warp File:LoD_Insignia.jpg|Insignia used by the Astartes of the Legion of the Damned Category:L Category:Space Marine Chapters Category:Space Marines